Why Is Devan So Hard To Match?

We all have 10 Human Leukocyte Antigens (HLA) markers, 5 from our mother and 5 from our father. Being 1/4 South Indian and 3/4 Northern European, Devan is difficult to match.

In general, people with any non-Caucasian blood in their backgrounds are harder to match for a bone marrow or other kind of transplant. This is why you need to register if you come from an ethnic or multiethnic background. The UK NHS system has done a better job of getting their database to reflect their population — for instance, 40% of their cord blood database is ethnic minorities and mixes. But statistics for the US Bone Marrow Registry show that a lot of work remains to be done to give everyone better representation in the database.

National Registry of Potential Marrow / Stem Cell Donors

Race

Donors
Registered

% of
Total

Number of
Transplants

Asian American Total

532,006

7.2%

531

– South Asian

139,460

1.9%

25

– Filipino (Philipino)

43,437

0.6%

55

– Japanese

32,639

0.4%

112

– Korean

67,913

0.9%

51

– Chinese

84,284

1.1%

56

– Other Southeast Asian

36,400

0.5%

49

– Vietnamese

16,967

0.2%

11

– Unspec. Asian/Pacific Islander

95,093

1.3%

172

– Multiple Asian/Pacific Islander

15,813

0.2%

876

Caucasian

5,408,623

73.0%

14,104

Black or African American

559,972

7.6%

876

Hispanic

386,549

5.2%

766

National Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander

10,682

0.1%

21

American Indian/Alaska Native

83,739

1.1%

85

Other

30,072

0.4%

209

Multiple Race

219,367

3.0%

–

Declines

43,696

0.7%

265

Unknown

132,606

1.8%

970

TOTAL

7,407,312

100%

17,843

If you are of Caucasian descent the likelihood of your finding a marrow match is 80%

If you are of minority descent your likelihood of finding a match (all minorities as a group) is 30% or less.

If you are of a smaller ethnic group, say Vietnamese or Japanese, your odds are even lower then that.